Published on 12, July, 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/19/hans-asperger-aided-and-supported-nazi-programme-study-says
I have to say that since I first read Steve Silbermann's book 'Neurotribes' about a year plus ago, I have been wondering if it was entirely the case that Asperger tried to keep his subjects away from the Nazi euthanasia programme. This morning's headline is thus no great surprise. And as Sachs-Cohen and Silbermann have already indicated their belief in the emerging facts, I'm not about to get too emotive about it. Regardless of DSM-5, my diagnostician decided it was still a valid term for an older adult who had lived for some years with some knowledge of that label. And I'm not about to avoid that label, myself. I suppose I might as well be the first person on the forum to ask what happens next, because I would guess that not everyone will be quite so philosophical about it as me. I have to admit, I have never really taken very kindly to 'aspie'. I find it a bit patronising; but I'm now wondering if some of that discomfort is down to the fact that I have sort of half expected that the hero thing was not quite the full story. And Kanner, for all his input, wasn't beyond criticism either.
''Carol Povey, director at the National Autistic Society in the UK’s Centre for Autism, said: “We expect these findings to spark a big conversation among autistic people and their family members, particularly those who identify with the term ‘Asperger’. Obviously no one with a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome should feel in any way tainted by this very troubling history.”
I have just discovered (entirely by accident) that there is a book just three days away from publication. The author is Edith Sheffer. 'Asperger's Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna'.
https://www.amazon.com/Aspergers-Children-Origins-Autism-Vienna/dp/0393609642/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=
A very brief preview read indicates that the author has been in contact with Czech. I also briefly noted that she has a son diagnosed Asperger's, but it would appear both parent and son question that label's usefulness somewhat. I have read Czech's paper twice, but still haven't really found myself too much at odds with either the author or his subject. That might work out the same with this book, I imagine. I probably will try to read it, but not perhaps too soon. Having already had some contact with folks who question the label of a diagnosis on the spectrum, I kind of reckon this book also probably isn't really going to change my outlook that much; although there may well be some benefits from critiquing certain stereotypes.
We should stop saying “Asperger.” It’s one way to honor the children killed in his name as well as those still labeled with it. - Edith Sheffer
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/31/opinion/sunday/nazi-history-asperger.html
I'm concerned that this book could be the most prominent watershed in the evolution of AS and psychology in general since the publication of Uta Frith's book in 1991. The biggest difference is that Uta Frith is from the medical profession and set out to first and foremost publicise a medical condition rather than honour a person. Edith Sheffer is an historian who appears to have first and foremost written a book to vilify a person and obliterate his name from both formal use and respectable conversation.
It's possible that Asperger Syndrome could become an offensive term like referring to people with Down's Syndrome as a Mongol.
Arran said:It's possible that Asperger Syndrome could become an offensive term like referring to people with Down's Syndrome as a Mongol.
I'd be worried by that abuse. Wouldn't marginalising use of 'Asperger' make it less likely though? It seems the change of name from 'The Spastics Society' to 'Scope' has helped reduce discrimination against people with cerebral palsy.
Or do you think removing something from a medical lexicon means it is out of control? Can teachers no longer ask a class 'Do you know what "Mongol" means?'
The first person to identify it seems to have been a Soviet doctor. Unfortunately she was a Ukrainian Jew so Asperger wasn't going to refer to her research.